Large off-road, heavy-duty work vehicles, such as mining vehicles used to haul heavy payloads excavated from open pit mines, are well known and usually employ motorized wheels for propelling or retarding the vehicle in an energy efficient manner. This efficiency is typically accomplished by employing a large horsepower diesel engine in conjunction with an alternator and a main traction inverter. The diesel engine is directly associated with the alternator such that the diesel engine drives the alternator. The alternator is used to power the main traction inverter, wherein the main traction inverter supplies power having a controlled voltage and frequency to two drive or traction motors connected to the rear wheels of the vehicle. The motors may be either AC or DC operated. As each drive motor is operated, the drive motor causes a transmission drive shaft to rotate at a low torque and high speed about the drive shaft axis. Because the transmission drive shaft is directly associated with the vehicle transmission, the low torque high speed rotational energy of the transmission drive shaft is communicated to the vehicle transmission. The vehicle transmission then takes the low torque high speed rotational energy supplied by the transmission drive shaft and converts this energy into a high torque low speed rotational energy output which is supplied to the rear wheels.
The conversion of this low torque high speed rotational energy into a high torque low speed rotational energy is typically accomplished using a double reduction gear set disposed within the vehicle transmission. A double reduction gear set is a series of gears, pinions and planets that includes a first reduction stage and a second reduction stage. The first reduction stage may include a high-speed sun pinion, a plurality of high-speed planets and a stationary ring gear and the second reduction stage may include a low-speed sun pinion, a plurality of low-speed planets and a stationary ring gear. The output of the first reduction stage is connected to the input of the second reduction stage and may be referred to as the high-speed carrier. In a similar manner, the output of the second reduction stage is connected to the vehicle wheels via a torque tube/hub assembly. Inward and outward thrust washers on the low-speed pinion enable rotation of the low-speed pinion relative to the high-speed pinion and the transmission housing.
As described above, a transmission of this type includes a plurality of moving parts that interact and mesh with each other in order to convert the low torque high-speed energy into high torque low-speed energy. As such, it is essential to keep all of the parts of the transmission well lubricated to avoid undue wear and equipment failure. Currently, the components within the transmission are lubricated using a “splash” process. This “splash” process involves partially filling the torque tube/hub assembly with oil such that the lubrication is distributed to the transmission components during movement of the high-speed carrier, the low-speed carrier, the high-speed planets and the low-speed planets. As these components move, the lubricating oil contained within the torque tube that has adhered to these components splashes from the carriers onto the components contained in the transmission, such as the low-speed sun pinion. As the low-speed sun pinion and the high-speed planets mesh together, the oil that adheres to both gears during the “splash” process gets squeezed out of the mesh in the axial direction of the transmission, providing lubrication to additional parts of the transmission. This provides lubrication to the radial outer surfaces of the thrust washers, but not to the radial inner surfaces.
Although the above lubrication process provides for sufficient lubrication of all of the internal parts of the transmission, including key wear components, any additional oil flow to critical areas of the transmission would be advantageous and may provide an additional margin of safety for those wheels that may be subjected to additional loads due to application and/or working environment. This additional margin of safety is desirable as an additional precaution to prevent the need for frequent replacement of equipment parts and/or catastrophic failure of the equipment.
A filter placed within the bore of a sun pinion could improve wheel lube quality, which in turn may improve wheel gearing/bearing life. However no substantial oil pressure is presently available, in part because filters work with pressure differential. If the filter creates too much of a pressure drop, the oil simply would not flow through the bore. Flow of oil cannot be restricted from reaching the internal parts of the transmission because such a condition would cause excessive wear and failure of internal components. There does not appear to be any existing filter that works without actual fluid pressure and no existing filter that does not restrict flow in relation to filter contamination.